1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to golf clubs, and pertains more particularly to a club having a head providing both maximum efficiency of energy transmission using a material with a high modulus of elasticity and optimum moment of inertia.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various attempts have been made to weight golf club head, particularly with respect to locating the weight directly behind the intended point of ball impact or sweet spot. One prior attempt is depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 1,091,231, granted Mar. 24, 1914 to James Miller. In this arrangement, both the forwardly disposed face plate constitutes one weight member and a rearwardly located cylindrical member constitutes a second weight member, being threaded onto a stud extending rearwardly from the face plate. The aim of the alluded to patent is to locate the two weights symmetrically with respect to the club shaft axis. No effort is made to concentrate the mass as far rearwardly as possible, the objective instead being merely to balance the weight in a fore and aft direction, although the second weight is intended to be directly behind the point of ball impact. Because of the early date (1914) of this patent, it is presumed that the material for the club head (with the exception of the parts just referred to) is wood.
Another effort to locate the weight directly behind the intended point of impact is illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,346,617 and 2,460,435, granted on Apr. 11, 1944 and Feb. 1, 1949, respectively, to Fred B. Schaffer. In both of these instances, a core construction is utilized which also has the end result of disposing approximately half the weight forwardly and half rearwardly of the club shaft. The metal parts in these cases are embedded in a plastic material.
The common shortcomings of the several types of patented golf club heads, however, is that the mass of the club head is balanced forwardly and rearwardly of the club shaft. No attempt is made to concentrate the mass at a maximum distance from the club face to provide a maximum moment of inertia. Also, no thought is given in any of the three patents to specifically concentrating the mass behind the hitting area and still maintain the same total weight by use of a low density material for imparting the conventional shape or curvature to the head's exterior surface.